Mom's car pulled up to the address I gave her and I double checked my phone to make sure everything was right. She stopped me before I got out, telling me when she'd pick me up, and when I got out, I waved to her car as she drove away.
"You made it!" Brendan exclaimed as I walked into the backyard, seeing a big group of our friends hanging out in front of the bonfire.
"I told you I was coming when I left my house," I said, walking over to a small group of people.
"I know. Do you want anything to drink?" he asked, walking over to some coolers, with me following.
"Just a Sprite."
He handed me a can of soda and I snapped it open, walking back over to the fire. It crackled and popped as embers flew all around us, smoke floating up and away in the air. A shiver ran down my spine as I looked up at the stars, causing me to stick my hands closer to the fire.
"You cold?" Brendan asked, looking down at me and smiling. "Here's my jacket," he said, wrapping it around my shoulders. I gave him a shy smile and looked back at the fire, making some small talk with Tristan and Alex.
"Where's your bathroom?" I asked, finishing my drink and excusing myself from the boys.
"When you go in, go through the kitchen, down the hall to your left, and the bathroom is at the end of the hall," Brendan explained. I nodded and as I walked into the kitchen, I threw my empty can away and then headed to the bathroom.
I looked at myself in the mirror and just smiled. 'Brendan and me are finally friends again,' I thought, smiling more and watching my blush in the mirror grow bigger. I walked out after a second and ran right into someone as I turned into the kitchen.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was in here," I said, looking up. "Mrs. Costner. I'm really sorry."
"Mackenzie? Oh my gosh! How have you been? It's been what, three years?" she exclaimed, jumping with excitement as she guided me over to the couch.
"I've been good. I like the redecorating," I said, looking at their rearranged living room. "And sorry I haven't been around. Me and Brendan kind of grew apart."
"Thank you sweetie and I remember when you first moved here. Brendan use to talk about you all the time. And when you guys got into eighth grade, he got so excited that you had a couple classes together. He got even more excited when you guys where partners a few times."
"Really? He didn't seem to be that excited," I stated.
"Well he was. And the first day of that year, he came home and told me that you had gotten so much more beautiful. And looking at you right now, I wish you would've stuck around so I could watch how much you had grown. You're are such a beautiful young lady," she said, pulling me into a hug.
"Thank you. You're going to make me cry," I said, wiping away a stray tear. She let out a laugh and wiped away a tear of her own, causing me to laugh.
"Well I don't want to keep you from your friends. I hope I get to see you more often," she said, causing both of us to get up.
"You definitely will. I'll come and say goodbye before I leave," I said, walking out the back door and going back over to Brendan.
"You girls take forever to pee! I thought you had fallen into the toilet or something!" Brendan said, smirking at me as I started to laugh.
"Right. I was just talking to your mom. As you can see, I didn't fall into the toilet or something," I laughed out, pushing his arm slightly.
"Good. Because I was hoping you could stick around for a little while longer," he said, looking down at me. I looked down at the ground and let a huge smile come to my face.
*****
"This was fun. Reminds me of sixth grade," I said, walking out to the street with Brendan.
"Me, too. I'll be sure to try and do this again," he said, as my mom pulled up and got out of the car, getting into the passenger seat. "Hello, Mrs. Stone."
"Hey Brendan. How are you?" she asked, closing the door.
"I'm good. You can drive?" he asked, turning back to me.
"Yeah. But I only have my permit. I get my license on my birthday in a month."
"Me, too. When is your birthday again?" he asked, walking me to the other side of my car.
"Two days after yours. Now I got to go," I said, opening the door.
"Okay, bye. See you tomorrow," he said, pulling me into a hug. I hesitantly hugged back and when we pulled apart, I handed him back his jacket and hopped into the car. I said bye before putting the car in the right gear and driving away.
"He's a lot cuter than I remember," Mom said, lighting a cigarette and rolling the window down.
"Yeah, well the last time you saw him was in sixth grade. It's been three years, Mom," I said. "Do you want me to stop at the gas station before we head home?"
I looked over and she nodded, letting me pull up to one of the six gas pumps that sat in front of the gas station. I turned the car off and went in to get a fountain drink while Mom grabbed a twenty-four case of beer. She paid for everything up-front as I headed back to the car, pumping the gas as I leaned on the car.
After closing the gas compartment, I hopped back into the car and drove for another fifteen minutes, until I pulled into our driveway.
"Do you mind if Tasha comes over?" I asked as we got out of the car and walked up to the house.
"Do I ever mind when Tasha comes over?" she answered, putting her cigarette out in an ashtray when we walked in to the house. I shrugged and headed back to my room, plugging my phone into it's charger and calling Tasha.
"Hello there! How was the bonfire?" she eagerly asked after answering on the first ring.
"It was good. We just hung out with some of his friends, me and his mom talked a little bit, and then I left."
"You just left?"
"Well he walked me out to my mom, he gave me a hug, and then he said he would see me tomorrow. Not that big of a deal."
"He hugged you? Did you hug him back? Did he smell good? What was it like?" she bombarded me. I rolled my eyes at her excitement and put her on speaker, setting the phone down on the bed as I dressed into my pajamas.
"Him hugging me is not that big of a deal; it's just Brendan. But OMG! YES! He smelled wonderful!" I squealed, going into fangirl mode.
"I'm on my way. Like I'm walking out to the car with my mom right now and we are going to have a serious girls night. Got it?"
"Perfect. I actually called you to invite you over tonight so I'll see you in a few minutes."
"See you," she said, ending the call. I threw my previously worn clothes into my hamper and then carried my hamper down to the laundry room in the basement. I threw the clothes into the washer and quickly started it before taking the hamper back up to my room.
"You okay with having pizza tonight? If so, what kind?" Kat asked, sticking her head into my bedroom.
"I want meat-lovers. And get a cheese one because Tasha is coming over," I said, crossing one leg under the other as I took a seat on my couch.
She nodded and then left, closing the door behind her, leaving me waiting for Tasha. I surfed through the cable, looking for something decent to watch, going through every channel about three times.
A rerun of 'How I Met Your Mother' was chosen and I tossed my remote onto the other side of the couch as I got up to go get a drink. I swung my bedroom door open and came face to face with Tasha, which caused me to jump.
"I'm here! And I have snacks and movies!" she said, waving bags in-front of my face as I backed up into my room. She closed the door with her foot and set the bags down on the bed, beginning to empty the contents.
"I've got pretzels, Doritos, chocolate chip cookies, Sprite, and some popcorn! And I brought Pitch Perfect, A Haunted House, and Tammy. What do you want to watch first?"
"Woah, woah, woah. Calm your tits, Tasha. We just ordered dinner a few minutes ago," I said, putting all the snacks back into the plastic grocery bag and setting them on the mini fridge that sat in front of the window on the side of my bed.
"I'm sorry, you're right. We should eat normal food first before we pig out and laugh hysterically," she said, sitting on the bed and taking her shoes off. "Now spill. Tell me everything that happened."
"I told you on the phone what happened. Were you not listening?" I asked, turning the volume on the TV down.
"I was but I want detail. Who all was there, what did you two talk about. what did you and his mom talk about, was it awkward?" she bombarded again, pulling me down onto the bed next to her.
*****
My alarm went off next to me on my side table and I let out a groan as I grabbed my pillow and tried to block out the sound by covering my face with it. It stopped after a minute and I closed my eyes, trying to go back to sleep.
Five minutes later, it went off again and I could hear Tasha let out a sigh from wherever she was.
"Will you turn that damn thing off?!" she exclaimed, letting out a yawn which was followed with a small thud. I threw the pillow off my face and turned off my alarm, looking across my room and seeing Tasha's feet sticking out from in front of the couch, on the floor.
"Why'd you sleep on the couch?" I asked, sitting up and stretching, closing my eyes and letting out a yawn at the same time. "My bed is more comfortable?"
"I didn't choose to. I just fell asleep while finishing the movies," she said, pushing herself up off the floor and putting her hands on her hips, turning left and then right to crack her back.
I nodded in understanding and threw my quilt off my body, causing a flood of cold air to wash over my bare legs and send a shiver down my spine. I proceeded into the bathroom and emptied my bladder while Tasha left the room to get some breakfast.
After washing my hands, I returned to my room and set up my curling iron, picking out my outfit while it warmed up. I set my clothes out on the bed and when I turned around to go back to my vanity, I was hit in the chest with something.
"Oops, I didn't think you were going to turn around," Tasha said, taking a bite out of her poptart.
"Thank you. I was just waiting to be hit with a flying pastry today," I said, bending down and picking it up, setting it down on my dresser.
"Well that's why I did it, duh. Can I borrow your straightener?" she asked, pulling out her brush and running it through her hair, pulling at the knots that had formed in her sleep.
"Of course. It's in the second drawer," I said, sitting down at the vanity and starting on my own hair. I parted my hair down the middle into two sections and curled the ends while Tasha stood next to me and made her hair pin straight.
"Okay, now help me pick out which shirt to wear," Tasha said, turning off my straightener and setting her overnight bag on the bed, pulling out a few different blouses. "Which one?" she asked, using her hand to motion to them.
"Um, that one," I said, pointing to the middle shirt, which was a floral tank top with a brown belt in the middle and a light brown cardigan to go over it. She nodded in agreement and threw the other shirts back in to her bag before removing her t-shirt and slipping on the blouse.
"Adorable! What are you wearing with that?" I asked, turning my curling iron off and going to put my outfit on.
"These skinny jeans and these white wedges," she said, holding up the remaining pieces of her outfit. "Is it good?"
"It's amazing. What time is it?" I asked, slipping my jeans on one leg at a time and jiggling my hips into it as I pulled them all the way up.
"Seven. We still have thirty minutes until the bus gets here."
I nodded and grabbed my backpack from my desk chair, turning the lights out as Tasha followed me, shutting my bedroom door behind her. I tossed my bag onto the couch and tossed my shoes onto the floor next to the couch, grabbing the remote off the coffee table and turning the TV on.
The news came on from when Dad was out here and I changed it MTV, where they had music videos playing. I got comfy on the couch and bent down to put my shoes on as Mom walked out of her room.
"Morning girls," she said, sticking her hand under her shirt and rubbing her stomach as she stretched.
"Morning, Mom. What time do you work today?" I asked, standing up and wiggling my feet to adjust to my shoes.
"I get off at four so I'll be home around five. Why?" she said, opening the fridge and pulling out the gallon of milk, taking a swig from it.
"Just wondering."
I grabbed my poptart and started to eat it, making small talk with Tasha as we waited for the bus to come. A horn honked from outside and we both said goodbye to Mom, giving her a hug, and then ran out to the bus, claiming a seat in the back like always.
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A/N: Another update! I promise that I'll try and write and update more for you guys. I PROMISE!!
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